California Biographies
Source:
History of Napa and Lake Counties
San Francisco, Slocum, Bowen & Co., Publishers. 1881
Transcribed by Peggy Hooper 2011
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
Robert Brownlee
Robert Brownlee - Emigrated to America in 1836, and settled in the city of New York, where he
sojourned four months, working at his trade of stone-cutter. In September of that year he proceeded
to North Carolina, and was employed for thirteen months in the capital of that State; at the expiration
of which he moved to Arkansas, arriving in Little Rock on Christmas day, 1837. He there prosecuted
his calling for four years, working on the Capitol and State Bank, when he embarked in the cultivation
of land. In 1848 he retired from the occupation of farming, and commenced prospecting for lead,
getting blown up during this employment. Mr. Brownlee was a resident of the State of Arkansas
altogether thirteen years. In 1849 the world was set agog by the discovery of gold in California, and he
was one of the many hardy sons of toil who crossed the plains, enduring all its hardships, hoping
occasionally against hope, and putting aside any knowledge of fear, laboring incessantly to buoy up
those who were bordering on despair, allaying the woes of the suffering, and cheering the despondent.
In this year, after a journey occupying six months and a half, coming by way of Santa Fe, this band
crossed the Colorado River in the latter end of August, and entered California, the land of promise, on
the first day of September, 1849. For days before this event, water with them had been scarce, the
canteens which they wore slung over their shoulders being nearly empty; at last, however, pools of
water were discovered, and he, riding at the head of the cavalcade, was the first to have his parched
throat with the wearily looked-for liquid. Dipping his pan deep into the pool, to procure the water in
its coolest state, he found it on drinking to be potently charged with alkali; to resort to the first rude
method of counteraction, namely, the eating of quantities of fat pork, was the work of a moment, and
he recovered; not so two of the others, who, even when cautioned, recklessly partook of the beverage,
both dying in great suffering on the evening of the same day. They were buried by their comrades,
while one of the number, gifted above his fellows with the power of speech, offered up a prayer at their
graves, which, for impressive eloquence, Mr. Brownlee asserts he has never heard equalled. From the
oldest to the youngest there was not a dry cheek. Let us now follow the fortunes of Mr. Brownlee. He
arrived in Mariposa County in the first rains. He labored in the mines for six days, in the first hour and a
half of which he dug up $80 worth of ore, his only implements being his jack-knife and tin pan. This was
in October, 1849. With this sum he entered into partnership with John W. Clarke, of Vermont, who had
also been moderately lucky, purchased a team of six pack-mules, and commenced what is known as a
"packing "business, between Stockton and Aquafria, two towns one hundred miles apart. The first trip
took these two pioneers some six weeks to accomplish. The roads were so bad from the excessive rains
that the hardships endured were sufficient to deter men of less perseverance. Always, at their destination,
however, such matters were treated lightly, for, after all, their business prospered, and miners would pay
$1.25 per pound for tea and flour, while other necessaries commanded as high a price. Mr. Brownlee thus
describes some of his experiences on this eventful first trip. On leaving the Stanislaus River, an eight-mule
team, drawing a boiler, was come up with, but such was the deplorable state of the roads that mules,
boiler, and truck had sunk into the mud, nothing being left to view but the heads of three mules and the
highest point of the boiler. Here was a fix. What was to be done? Quick of resources, desperation lending
wit to native acumen, the teamsters incontinently drove their animals on to the boiler, from which perch
they daintily picked their steps on to the backs of their less fortunate brethren, one after the other, until
once more terra firma was regained. There were four of these adventurers - James McVicar, Mr. Brownlee,
his partner, and a negro. During a blinding snow storm they proceeded onward, and arrived at Dry Creek,
where each mule had to be repacked, the cargo having shifted, on account of the many slips and falls
which the quadrupeds had sustained. On relieving them of their burdens and placing the sacks of flour on
the clay, the first two tiers sank out of sight, causing no inconsiderable damage. There was not the where-
withal to build a fire whereby food might be prepared, so they supped on flour, mixed with water and raw
fat pork. Cold and hungry, they lay on the saddle blankets, striving to wheedle the gentle goddess - the four
of them - Mr. Brownlee next to the negro. During the night the snow and sleet ceased, and a hard frost set
in, making the cold intense. The water in a pair of long boots, the property of the darkey, froze to a solid
mass, which was not perceived until he had tried to put them on; but, whether on account of the size of
his feet or the frigidity and rigidity of the ice, they would not be coaxed into their proper resting place till
thawed by the water of a convenient stream. The morning, however, lent a brighter aspect to the state of
things, for daylight showed where fuel was to be obtained; a hearty meal was made off coffee and flapjacks,
which they enjoyed, for, on the principle of hunger being the best sauce, McVicar would now and again
observe " Eh, man, Bob, but aren't they good? "On the following day the Tuolumne River was gained, in
another snow storm, they camping in a "wash" of the river. This night a splendid fire was built. Three large
trees, which were lying in the bed of the now dry stream, were piled over with brush and set alight, while
the banks gave shelter from the driving sleet and snow; and comparative comfort, with a certain amount
of satisfaction, was being taken out of the burning mass of timber, some forty feet in length. Of a sudden,
without the slightest warning, their gigantic hearth was seen to float away; the water rose with incredible
speed, so that they were wet to their waists while securing their packs. At length all was made snug, and
the quartette, climbing up to the fork of a tree, out of the reach of the now rushing stream, in the driving
snow, philosophically awaited the dawn of day. Of such were the hardships endured on this memorable
journey. In the spring of the year 1850 the subject of our sketch established a store, having a mule team in
connection therewith. The former combined all the mining luxuries of a boarding-house, ten-pin alley and
card-room, as well as the agency for Adams' Express. At the time when the first snow fell Mr. Brownlee
found himself with a large accumulation of staple goods, for which there would be a ready market; he there-
fore turned out his animals to pasture on what was known as the Texine Ranch, when one day he was
informed that a force of Indians had been seen driving them off. This was a cause of the hastening of
another Mariposa War. On the receipt of this intelligence Major Burney, then Sheriff of the county, raised
a company of twenty-two volunteers, started in pursuit, and, overtaking the Indians, engaged them for
three or four hours, when they fled, leaving behind them partially eaten portions of the beasts, which had
been cooked between the time of their capture and the conflict. At this juncture the war had assumed
proportions which were likely to develop. The Major, therefore, appealed to Governor Burnett, at San Jose,
for aid, when he despatched Neely Johnson to organize three companies of militia in Mariposa County, Mr.
Brownlee being sutler of the battalion, and as such he found himself possessed of a large amount of scrip
paid to him by the force, which he wished to have recognized by the officers of the State. To gain this was
the object of his first visit to Vallejo in 1851, on which occasion he remained only two months, returning to
Mariposa County, and thereafter visited Sacramento in 1852 on the same errand, after which he once more
went back to Mariposa, wound up his affairs, and started to return to Scotland, but having missed the
steamer from San Francisco to Panama, he remained for three weeks in Vallejo. On the first day of March,
1852, Mr. Brownlee sailed from San Francisco, visiting en route Arkansas and Kentucky, where he met his
wife, went to Scotland, but in two months from his arrival, having visited a few of the most noteworthy places
in his native land, once more turned towards the United States and landed in New York, where he was
married soon after his arrival In October, 1852, we find Mr. Brownlee on his second voyage to California, on
this occasion accompanied by his bride and his brother, his wife and son traversing the route, not by the
plains, as he had done three years before, but by the more pleasant and swifter one of Panama, arriving in
San Francisco in the end of November, and, having pleasant recollections of Vallejo, immediately thereafter
proceeded thither, where both families located in December, 1852. Early in the next year he commenced
farming and a dairy business on a small scale, purchased a tract of fifty acres of land two miles north of the
town limits, which he afterwards exchanged with General John B. Frisbie in 1857 for his present place, now
in Napa County, but which was then in that of Solano. Since his arrival, up to the present time, Mr. Brownlee
has been inseparably connected with Vallejo and its associations, and though he does not reside in the county,
he is still spoken of by all as the most reliable source of information in regard to the doings in early days. His
residence is a magnificent two-storied building, having rooms of fine proportions, situated about fourteen
miles from Vallejo; he farms over one thousand one hundred acres of land, six hundred and fifty being in
Solano County, while this season he has under wheat and barley no less than one thousand one hundred acres.
The line of railroad to Sacramento from South Vallejo passes his gate, while there is an averagely good road to
his dwelling. A more genial companion, a better citizen or hospitable host does not exist than Robert Brownlee.
He was born at Bunkle, in the parish of Cambusnethen, in the County of Lanark, Scotland, in 1813, married
Annie Lamont, October 24, 1852, born in Tamhorn, in the Carse O'Gowrie, Perthshire, Scotland, in 1834, by
whom he has Robert A, born October 14,1853: (the first white boy born in Vallejo); Mary J., born August 1,
1855; Margaret R, born June 4,1857; Gracie A, born July 10,1862; George, born February 23,1864; William,
born November 25,1866, died March 17,1868; and Frederick J., born August 19,1870.